Greek Police in Thessaloniki has arrested a human trafficker who used a fake ambulance to transfer migrants, some of them dressed as doctors.
The ambulance was spotted on Egnatia highway some 30 km away from Thessaloniki on Thursday. When police made a signal to the driver to stop the vehicle, he switched on its siren and the emergency light and increased speed.
Police cars chased the fake ambulance for some 25 km an finally brought to halt.
The driver and a second man in the driver’s cabin were wearing doctor’s and nursing staff clothes.
The driver was Greek, the fake doctor next to him a man from Bangladesh.
Another 12 Bangladeshi men were hiding in the back of the vehicle.
They were all arrested, the 58-year-old driver was furthermore charged for human smuggling and several traffic violations.
According to an exclusive report by grtimes, the traffickers had bought an ambulance used in Germany and brought it in Greece with fake documents. They painted it with signs resembling those of private ambulances in the country.
Greek police has reportedly known since quite some time that traffickers have been using this new method to transport illegal migrants form the Turkish borders to Thessaloniki.
